Moistener for stencil addressing machines



Nov. 1, 1955 c $T|Tz 2,722,175

MOISTENER FOR STENCIL ADDRESSING MACHINES Filed May 17, 1950 //\/Z/E/\/ 727R CAROUNI: STtTZ ATTUR/VEV United States Patent Ofifice 2,722,175 Patented Nov. 1, 1955 MOISTENER FOR STENCIL ADDRESSING MACHINES Caroline Stitz, Portland, Oreg. Application May 17, 1950, Serial No. 162,503

4 Claims. (Cl. 101-48) This invention relates generally to the art of addressing mailing pieces, such as envelopes and cards, by means of a stencil which has been previously cut on a typewriter.

The main object of this invention is to produce a saving in man hours and to reduce the ink requirement, at the same time provide a cleaner method of handling stencils, and at the same time to make the address more legible than is possible with existing methods.

The second object is to reduce the number of inkings to one in order to make a clear cut address, thereby eliminating at least one or two inkings normally required to do an equally good job, and is just as effective on previously inked stencils.

The third object is to greatly reduce the amount of time required to place newly typed stencils in operating condition.

I accomplish these and other objects in the manner set forth in the following specification as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of those portions of an addressing machine directly associated with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken along the line 22 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the device with the moistener drawer removed.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the moistener drawer itself.

Like numbers of reference refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views.

In order to illustrate this invention there is shown a common form of stencil address card having the card board frame 11 and the notch 12, it being understood that the center panel 13 is a specially prepared sheet which can be perforated or cut in an ordinary typewriter, in order to form the address 14 thereon. A card holder (not shown) is provided for a stack of cards 10.

There is also shown an ejector 15, by means of which the cards 10 may be moved along over the table 16 above which is mounted an ink applying segment 17 which is mounted on a shaft 18 which may be manually or mechanically driven as desired.

Referring particularly to my invention, same will be seen to consist of a pair of end walls 19 and 20 which are united by the front 21 and back 22. Between the front 21 and the back 22 is a fioor 23 which forms the bottom of the water container in which is stored the water 24.

The end wall 20 has its lower end 25 extending well below the table 16. A cross member 26 is secured to the end wall 20 and to the lower edge 27 of the front 21 and has formed therethrough a hole 28 for the bolt 29 whose shank 30 journals in the hole 31 extending through the lug 32 secured on the front 21.

Across the lower end of the end 19 is a plate 33. Resting on the members 26 and 33 is a bottomless drawer con- 2 sisting of the back 34, the front 35 and the ends 36, within which is slidably disposed a dividing partition 37. Screws 38 are threaded through the partition 37 and has a knob 39 on the rear side of the back 34 and a collar 40 on the front side thereof.

A sponge 41 is placed between the members 34 and 37, the screws 38 passing through the sponge 41. The purpose of this arrangement is to control the distance which the sponge 41 extends below the lower edge 42 of the drawer back 34.

In the bottom 23 is formed a channel 43, one end of which is connected by the upturned duct 44 with the water compartment, and the lower end of which is connected by a duct 45 to the space containing the sponge 41. A needle valve 46 has its point 47 controlling the flow of water between the ports 44 and 45. The screw 46 is supplied with an indicating pointer 48 and a knob 49 for the manual rotation of the screw 46.

It is desirable to mark the end wall 19 with suitable calibrations 50 by means of which the position of the needle point 47 may be easily observed.

In the normal operation of the machine, when it is desired to afiix an address 14 to a card or envelope 51, the envelope is merely placed in position under the inking segment 15 operated by means of a mechanism (not shown), causing the lowermost card 10 to move under the sponge 41, thereby applying a thin coat of the water to the stencil, barely moistening the stencil. However, as the inking segment 17 passes around, drawing with it the stencil card 10, it deposits ink on the moistened stencil and some of it penetrated the typed portion of the stencil, permitting the ink to pass through onto the card 51, leaving a clear and legible address without any other pie-inking.

This application of moisture to the stencil has several advantages. First, it cleans the stencil free of any dust or lint and, second, it facilitates the flow of ink through the cut portion of the stencil and thereby it permits the making of a perfectly legible address without the necessity of expert workmanship on the part of the person making the address.

I claim:

1. In an addressing machine, the combination of a table, a stencil card holder mounted at one end of said table, an ejector moving under said holder and carrying the lowermost stencil card along the top of said table, an ink applying segment on said table in the path of said stencil card and spaced from said card holder and a moistener over the stenciled portion of said cards disposed between said holder and inking segment whereby moisture may be applied to the stencil before it passes under the inking segment.

2. In an addressing machine, the combination of a holder for holding a plurality. of stencil cards in stack form, an ejector forming the bottom of said holder whereby stencil cards may be moved along the top of said table, an inking segment on said table in the path of said stencils and arranged to apply ink to a stencil as it passes thereunder and a stencil moistener mounted over said stencils between said holder and segment and a sponge within said moistener having a clamp for cornpressing said sponge laterally whereby the under side of said sponge may be adjusted with relation to said stencil in order to control the amount of water applied to said stencil.

3. In an addressing machine the combination of a table, a holder for stencilled cards in stack form over one end of said table, an ejector forming a bottom for said holder, a segment inker mounted over said table in the path of said cards and remote from said holder, and a moistener between said holder and inker mounted on said table directly over the path of said cards having a water compartment in the top thereof-and having a-sponge below said water compartment, said Water compartment having a needle valve controlled outlet communicating with .the sponge containing space whereby the flow of water to said sponge may be controlled.

4. An addressing machine having in combination a table, a card holder for holding cards .in a stack above said table, an ejector for moving cards from said holder end onend along the .top of said table, an inking segment mounted on said table over said row of cards and in, contact therewith, means for rotating said segment in synchronism with the movements of said ejector, an elevated ,water compartment having a bottomless drawer under same directly over the path of said cards, said drawer having a transversely slidable partition, a sponge onone side of said partition, clamping screws for moving said pistonagainst said sponge and a valve controlled outlet for said water compartment discharging into said drawer upon said sponge for controlling therate-of water feed to said sponge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 8,853 De Zuccate Aug. 12, 1879 Re. 18,151 Elliott Aug. 18, 1931 257,423 Williamson May 2, 1882 488,751 Collins Dec. 27, 1892 644,241 Caps Feb. 27, 1900 1,027,204 Hammond May 21, 1912 1,136,591 Elliott Apr. 20, 1915 1,208,268 Belknap Dec. 12, 1916 1,997,156 Tauschek Apr. 9, 1935 2,036,972 Storck Apr. 7, 1936 2,106,675 Elliott Jan. 25, 1938 2,482,557 Rust Sept. 20, 1949 2,589,789 Ford Mar. 18, 1952 

